AE Searches: New & Improved (but where are they?)
- By Michael Stillman
Search for keywords in "Search for keywords here" box, or click "Advanced Search."
The Americana Exchange has undergone some major changes in the past few days, but none is more important than the way the site presents its searches. AE has three major databases: upcoming auction listings, Books for Sale, and the AE Bibliographic Database, now over 3 million records strong. The auction search offers the world's only unified search of new book listings from over 150 worldwide auction houses. Books for Sale searches members' for sale listings, a number smaller than the Amazon-sized book sites but concentrated in collectible material (no Print on Demand, no dollar books). The AE Database contains auction and other bibliographic results and records, most with prices.
Where is the new search box?
Many regular AE users may be asking, "but where is the search box?" On the old site, each database had its own dedicated search page. No more. They all can be searched from the same place. That place is like the ketchup bottle in the refrigerator. It's hard to see because it's right in front of you. On this page, the home page, and most others, it's right there near the top, with "Search for keywords here" in red in the box. Look up! Click on that box and that red phrase disappears, allowing you to enter your search terms.
Selecting the right database.
That still leaves the question of which database you are searching if there are no longer three separate search pages. The answer is they are all performed from the same box. To the left of the search box are three circles, labeled "AE Database," "Upcoming Auctions," and "Books for Sale." Just click on the circle for the database you wish to search.
Advanced Search.
That explains how to handle a keyword search, but what if you want to search for a specific author, title, date range and such? Simple. To the right of the keyword search box is a link to "Advanced Search." Click on that link and the advanced search box appears. Go ahead. Try it.
Here are our recommendations. If searching for an obscure term or phrase, or searching the upcoming auctions, use the keyword search. Obscure phrases won't have too many matches, and the upcoming auctions database never has more than about 5,000-30,000 records in it at one time. You won't be overwhelmed with matches not relevant to your needs, and you will be able to look through everything that is there quickly. You won't miss a thing. On a recent days, I found about a dozen matches for "Twain." That's easy to look through. At the same time, I found over 700 matches in Books for Sale, over 11,000 in the AE Database. That's too many to sift through. Use the advanced search to better target your search or enter multiple words in the keyword box to limit matches.
Tip: Placing multiple words in the keyword box will search listings with all of those terms present. Putting those terms within quotation marks will only find those terms as an exact phrase (in that order). Example: "Huckleberry Finn" (with quotations marks) will not find a book about huckleberries written by Mickey Finn; Huckleberry Finn (without quotation marks) will.
If you would like to try a search now without losing this page, here is a link that will open the search box and site in a new window. Click here.
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AE Searches: New & Improved (but where are they?)
- By Michael Stillman
Triangulated search for auction listings also shows matches from the AE Database and Books for Sale.
Triangulated Search - New!
Once you complete your search, you will find something else just above the search results you never saw on the old site. You will see how many results were found in each of the other two databases. The search engine actually searches all three databases at once (hence the name "triangulated search"). If you wish to see what was found in the other databases, it is no longer necessary to go to their search pages and reenter the same search terms there. Just click the "records found" link for the other databases and the results are there waiting for you.
Today, those involved in the book field are demanding more, better and faster information. We believe that advances such as triangulated search, which brings data from multiple sources together in one place instantly, will one day soon be considered the standard by serious dealers and collectors. You are getting a glimpse of the future, sort of like watching Gutenberg role his Bibles off the press. That may sound like hyperbole, but I can assure you that if Johannes Gutenberg could see this, he would be utterly amazed.
The upcoming auction and Books for Sale databases can be searched by anyone, member or not, logged in or not, free. The AE Database requires being a logged in member at some (any) paid level to access. However, non-members will see how many matches for a search term are found in the AE Database, and short-term memberships are available to try it out.
Same Page or New Window? - New!
This is a choice that has passionate proponents on both sides (and others who, like Rhett Butler, don't give a damn). When you click on the individual listings, do you prefer the records to come up on the same page or a new window? Bringing them up in new windows can create clutter on your monitor. However, bringing them up on the same page prevents looking at different records side by side. We have solved this dilemma by letting you choose which way you prefer. Every record in each database displayed in the search results has a little square box after it. If you click on the record itself, it will come up on the same page. If you click on the box, it will open in a new window. We believe same-page viewing will be preferred by those with smaller computer screens or who like to view results sequentially. Opening new windows may be preferable to those with larger computer screens or doing research which requires viewing records side by side.
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AE Searches: New & Improved (but where are they?)
- By Michael Stillman
Clicking the square box after a book's title will bring up the listing in a new window.
AE Bibliographic Database
The remainder of this article deals with changes in the AE Database. This will help existing and new members understand some of the new services being offered. If you are a serious dealer or collector but not yet a subscriber, you need to subscribe now. Seriously… the quantity of essential data is unparalleled in history. At 3 million-plus records it's more than three times the size of any other such database we have seen, and it's growing by leaps, maybe even bounds, virtually everyday. Avoiding one pricing mistake (as buyer or seller) on one couple of hundred dollar book will pay for this for a year, and you will likely use it every week if not everyday. If you aren't sure, sign up for a cheap, short-term "Visitor" membership to see. Click here to sign up.
Get Current Estimate (with Probability of Reappearance) - New!
There are six buttons above your AED search results. We will discuss just two of them here. The first is Get Current Estimate. Select the records for which you wish to get a current estimate by checking the box for each and then click the Get Current Estimate button. It will give you a current estimate for each item, plus an average for all items selected. The program uses an algorithm that looks at year-to-year changes in prices for books in the AE Database since the year of that record to estimate what its sale price might be now. Naturally, it cannot be perfect as not all books have appreciated/depreciated at the same rate, but it provides a useful ballpark of where current value should be. It is very useful for making sense out of older auction records, and making wise decisions.
New to the revised AE site is a second number - Probability of Reappearance. To use this tool effectively, you should select only records of the same book and edition over the past 50 years. It will then calculate how frequently this book is likely to show up at auction. Again, this is not a perfect science, but if it says it is likely to reappear every year or two, you may want to be cautious about chasing after a copy. If it indicates it may take ten years or more to reappear, and you really want it, you may choose to be a bit more liberal towards paying the price.
Get AE Keywords
Again, select the records you want to view by checking their boxes and click the Get AE Keywords tab at the top. What you will get is a list of the most frequently appearing words in the records you have selected. This is a neat tool that will help a collector know what keywords to search for to find related material, and show a dealer what keywords should be included in his listings.
Epilogue
There are lots more features to the AE Database, the other databases, and the entire new site, but we will save that for other articles and other times. Provide too much information at once and nothing is remembered. Feel free to roam around the new site and give its features a spin. Most are free, and the combination of unique new tools with the largest database of book records anywhere makes subscriber membership, in our humble opinion, an outstanding deal. We recognize there will be a few glitches and it may take a little time to get used to the changes, but we have put in a lot of time, thought, and effort to make this the greatest book collecting site ever envisioned. Hopefully, the road to a bright, well-informed future for the book trade is paved with good intentions.
Toward the bottom of the right hand column is an "Ask a Question" link if you are having a problem or have questions or suggestions.
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